The appearance of wild ginseng is judged by the “Five Forms”: Lu, Ting, Lines, Body, and Rootlets.
“Lu,” also known as “Flowering Lu,” refers to the head of the ginseng. A good Lu should be thick at the top and thin at the bottom, resembling a blooming flower. Since one Lu usually grows each year, they layer up like a morning glory. The adventitious roots growing from the Lu are called “Ting,” which are thin at both ends and thick in the middle—resembling a jujube pit, thus known as “Jujube Pit Ting.” The “Lines” refer to the lines at the top of the ginseng body and are a key indicator for determining the ginseng’s age.
As for the “Body” and “Rootlets,” they’re more straightforward—referring to the main body of the ginseng and its root hairs.
The ginseng Wang Ying and Xu Shuang found had not yet been fully dug out, but its flowering Lu at the top was already visibly beautiful. The ginseng body was neatly rhomboid-shaped, and although it didn’t have many root hairs, each had a small round node. Fine horizontal lines layered along the sides.
Wang Ying concluded, “At least thirty years.”
This kind of wild ginseng, even in the future, would fall into the high-value category.
Wang Ying carefully dug out the ginseng, and after seeing it clearly, became even more excited. This ginseng wasn’t just thirty years old—it was close to thirty-five.
Thrilled, she wrapped the ginseng delicately in paper she had brought along and packed the smaller ginseng roots nearby as well.
The large ginseng alone could fetch several hundred yuan from Yao Shunjun. As for the small ones, Wang Ying wasn’t about to throw them away—she planned to keep one for personal use and try planting the rest to see if they could survive.
By now, it was already dark. Wang Ying checked the pocket watch she had with her—it was past 7 p.m. After descending the mountain, the two walked along the main road for a while until they saw the lights of a brigade ahead. After stopping someone to ask for directions, they learned it was the Red Flag Commune.
They had spent a long time wandering in the mountains. At first, they had remembered the way they came, but later Wang Ying figured they wouldn’t return by the original path anyway, so she roughly kept track of the direction. Who would’ve thought, after winding along the mountain trails, they’d end up at the Red Flag Commune?
Now that they’d found the road, the two felt relieved and quietly made their way back to their own brigade.
When they got home, Grandma Xu was already anxiously waiting.
“Why are you only just getting back? Come sit, quick!”
Grandma Xu handed Wang Ying a cup of hot water. Though it was already spring, the mornings and evenings were still chilly—especially up in the mountains.
Wang Ying took a couple of gulps, hugging the warm cup, and excitedly showed off to Grandma Xu.
“Mom, look!”
Wang Ying uncovered the herbs in the two baskets—completely full, a bountiful haul.
Grandma Xu was startled by the sight of the large snake, her heart pounding so hard she nearly lost her balance.
“Goodness! That’s a huge snake—how did you catch it?”
She couldn’t help feeling a bit scared. Though the snake was already dead, it still filled most of the basket. Its body was covered with brightly colored markings—just looking at it was intimidating.
Wang Ying said, “Xu Shuang struck it once—hit it right on the seven-inch spot!”
Thinking back on it still gave Wang Ying a thrill. “We had just finished picking some devil’s club shoots and were about to climb a tree to pick magnolia buds when the snake suddenly opened its mouth and came at us.”
She recounted the snake-catching story with dramatic flair, leaving Grandma Xu gasping again and again.
Wang Ying added, “This snake looks pretty good. After dinner, I’ll process it.”
Whether it was the snake’s gallbladder, skin, or bones, all could be used in medicine.
Grandma Xu was uneasy. “That thing just gives me the creeps.”
But Wang Ying, being a doctor, naturally had no fear of things that scared the average person.
“This snake looks really decent—its medicinal parts alone are probably worth a good bit.”
Though she didn’t know the exact market price, Wang Ying estimated based on her past life that it wouldn’t be cheap.
Homegrown herbs were one thing, but materials derived from snakes were much harder to obtain. In the countryside, when people caught a snake—as long as it wasn’t venomous—they’d just cook and eat it casually. Few knew how to properly process it for medicine.
Wang Ying was eager. “Let’s take all the parts we can use for medicine, and we’ll stew the rest of the meat into soup tomorrow.”
She hadn’t had much meat lately. She was already tired of rabbit meat, and pork was hard to buy. The wild pheasant they caught today was the first, and once it was eaten, it’d be gone.
Grandma Xu said, “Let Xu Shuang stew it for you—I really can’t touch that thing.”
Wang Ying looked pleadingly at Xu Shuang.
Xu Shuang replied, “…Leave it to me. I’ll get up early and stew it for you.”
Wang Ying cheered and got up to wash her hands, face, and change clothes.
Grandma Xu had already prepared a pot of congee and was slicing mushrooms to stir-fry. Xu Shuang took the ladle and plucked the wild pheasant, then put it into the pot with the mushrooms to stew. The fragrant aroma slowly drifted through the house.
Besides stewing the wild pheasant, Xu Shuang also brought out the devil’s club shoots they had picked that day and scrambled them with eggs.
Wang Ying took one bite and was captivated by the unique flavor of the devil’s club shoots. The fragrance was quite different from Chinese toon leaves. While toon leaves had a strong, overpowering aroma, the shoots had a distinctive freshness instead.
Then she tasted the wild pheasant stewed with mushrooms and was completely immersed in the savory and delicious flavor.
The meat of the pheasant was firm and tender, and the mushrooms had absorbed the rich aroma and broth of the chicken. Even after finishing the meat, they had to dip steamed buns in the soup—it was so delicious it made one feel dizzy with delight.
The enticing aroma wafted slowly, drifting all the way to Wang Yongshun’s household next door, keeping them up at night.
Li Chunjuan muttered under her breath, “Eating stewed meat in the middle of the night, aren’t they afraid of choking to death!”
Even as she complained, she sniffed hard—as long as they couldn’t eat it, smelling it was the next best thing.
Wang Yongshun turned over, feeling very bitter. Those people were eating meat every day, which only made the poverty of his family of three feel even more pitiful.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Wang Yongshun immediately became alert. “Who is it?”
Li Chunjuan didn’t care. “You think it’s a thief? With a house like ours, not even thieves are interested!”
After they lost their savings, the couple had been scraping by on twenty yuan. With Wang Yaozong spending frivolously, only a few yuan were left now. The family was as poor as could be—why would a thief ever come?
Li Chunjuan yawned and got up to take a look.
“It’s Yaozong going out.”
Wang Yongshun sat up in bed. “What’s he going out for so late?”
Li Chunjuan found his reaction exaggerated. “He’s probably going to town to find his classmate. Didn’t Yaozong say before? A friend from high school has a good relationship with him and said they could introduce him to some temporary work.”
Wang Yongshun was furious. “And you actually believe that!”
Temporary jobs weren’t like cabbages in a field that you could get just because someone said so! Even in the city, it was hard to find temp work. And they were relying on one of Wang Yaozong’s classmates?
Lately, Wang Yongshun had been increasingly frustrated. He loved his son, but he also knew Yaozong’s future was bleak. So he kept urging Yaozong to go work in the fields with him, hoping to shape him up a bit—at least enough to pretend. Then maybe they could match him with a bride and improve their household’s situation a little.
But Li Chunjuan didn’t see it that way. Ever since the hidden money incident, she’d lost all trust and patience in Wang Yongshun. Now she felt all the family’s hopes rested on their son.
Wang Yaozong, after all, had attended more than half of high school. Didn’t that make him more knowledgeable and better connected than two old farmers like her and Wang Yongshun?
“What’s wrong with Yaozong? I think he’s great. He might not have been very sensible before, but now he even helps me wipe the table.”
Wang Yongshun felt like he was suffocating with frustration. He wanted to grab Li Chunjuan and ask, why would your son suddenly wipe the table for no reason? Wasn’t it obviously for the money in your hands? No, he couldn’t let her keep control of the money. Otherwise, she’d squander it all on Yaozong.
“How much money is left? The family’s money—how much?” Wang Yongshun asked bluntly. “Hand it over. Let me manage it again.”
Originally, he’d given the money to Li Chunjuan to appease her after the hidden money debacle. He knew she was holding a grudge, and with only twenty yuan left, he figured it didn’t matter—she’d just spend it on household needs.
But now it was different. Who knew if she’d hand all of it to Wang Yaozong and waste it?
Li Chunjuan’s expression shifted. “Didn’t you say I could manage it? We need money for food and other daily expenses—keeping it with me is just more convenient.”
Seeing her attitude, Wang Yongshun’s heart sank. Something felt very wrong.
“You spent it all? Where’s the money?!”
Li Chunjuan stiffly replied, “There’s no money left. Between your medicine, my medicine, and the money to buy chicks…”
Wang Yongshun’s gaze darkened. “You gave all the money to Wang Yaozong.”
Li Chunjuan wouldn’t take it. “Why are you yelling? Isn’t he our son? What’s wrong with spending money on our son?”
She laid it all out: “Yaozong told me he’s gotten close to a girl in school—a town girl. He’s thinking of sweet-talking her, maybe even marrying her someday.”
Wang Yongshun laughed bitterly. In the past, he had appreciated Li Chunjuan’s boldness and how he could follow behind and pick up the benefits. That had made him quite satisfied with her foolishness. But now, he was finally paying the price for it.
If Wang Yaozong really had a girlfriend in town, would he have been tricked into buying a watch for eighty yuan?
Wang Yongshun was no fool. He was sure Yaozong had just taken the money and squandered it.
Thinking back, his son hadn’t mentioned wanting to eat meat at all since the New Year.
Wang Yongshun sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “You’ll see soon enough.”
He was certain: the money was gone, and they weren’t getting a daughter-in-law out of it.
Twenty yuan, and in just a few days, their son had blown it all.
Wang Yongshun had never felt so hopeless: “I can’t control him anymore.”
Wang Yaozong was grown now, and as a father, he couldn’t even physically discipline him anymore. What could he do? Just endure.
The next day, Wang Ying went to town with a letter of introduction. She placed the wild ginseng at the bottom of her basket, covering it with cheaper herbs and wild vegetables.
As soon as she got to the county town, she headed straight to the state-owned restaurant and found Yao Shunjun.
Yao Shunjun brightened at the sight of her. It had been several days since they agreed on the ginseng deal, and she’d thought Wang Ying wouldn’t be able to bring it.
Yao Shunjun pulled her to a quiet corner, rubbing her hands excitedly. “Where is it?”
Wang Ying carefully unwrapped the paper, revealing the ginseng, still looking fresh and covered in moist soil.
Yao Shunjun nearly forgot to breathe. She had seen a few ginseng roots since putting out word while searching for medicine for her sister, but they were all dry, shriveled bits—none as whole or plump as the one in front of her.
Yao Shunjun gasped, “How many years old is this?!”
Wang Ying smiled. “I estimate it to be at least thirty-five years.”
Yao Shunjun immediately grabbed Wang Ying’s hand. “Come on, let’s go see my mother together.”
She didn’t understand ginseng well, but even she could see that this one was in exceptional condition. The specifics of age and quality still needed her mother’s expert eye.
Wang Ying: “Aren’t you going to work?”
Yao Shunjun didn’t care and said, “I’ll go back and take a leave of absence. Wait for me.”
Wang Ying watched her hurriedly go back inside and come out again in just a couple of minutes. She understood then—this person truly wasn’t short on money.
You have to know, at this time, most working-class people were still quite simple and honest. If they could avoid taking leave, they would. And even when they had to, it was rarely done so smoothly. But Yao Shunjun had no issues. What’s more, when she heard about the 35-year-old wild ginseng, she hadn’t even flinched.
Yao Shunjun led Wang Ying through streets and alleys. Before long, they arrived at a tube-shaped apartment building.
As Wang Ying stepped through the gate, she took note that this place was a residential compound for the railway department families.
No wonder—no wonder this person could buy wild ginseng without even blinking.
Yao Shunjun brought Wang Ying to the second floor of a building in the compound and knocked on a door. A middle-aged woman answered and was surprised to see her daughter. “Why are you back at this hour?”
Yao Shunjun was visibly excited. “Mom! I found the medicine for my sister!”
The middle-aged woman quickly glanced around nervously and then pulled her daughter inside. Wang Ying followed them in.
Yao Shunjun held her mother’s hand, rambling on, “A 35-year-old wild ginseng! I just saw it, it’s just like the kind Grandpa used to describe…”
Before the middle-aged woman could say anything, Yao Shunjun pushed Wang Ying forward. “This is her, Mom. She’s the wife of our restaurant head chef’s apprentice. She’s also the medic in her village. She’s the one who found it.”
When Wang Ying entered earlier, she had closed the door behind her. Now the woman no longer had to worry about prying eyes. She looked joyful and said, “Really? Comrade, may I take a look?”
Wang Ying nodded and handed over the ginseng. The woman looked at it carefully and grew more and more satisfied.
“Excellent, at least 35 years old. A fine root!”
The woman had been under great mental strain lately. Her family had some connections, but even after exhausting their efforts, they couldn’t find anything suitable. Her eldest daughter’s health had been deteriorating, and she was getting desperate.
Now that she had this ginseng in her hands, she didn’t hesitate. “Thirty-five years old, exceeding the base age by ten. Thirty yuan for each year. Comrade, I’ll give you six hundred and fifty yuan.”
She added, “This ginseng is in such excellent condition. Giving an extra fifty is my good fortune.”
When Wang Ying heard “six hundred-plus yuan,” her heart burned with excitement. Her savings just jumped from over three hundred to a four-digit figure!
“Thank you very much. By the way, please be cautious with the dosage and storage. Even if you use this for medicinal purposes, you likely won’t finish it all. You should preserve the rest and maybe turn it into medicinal wine—it’ll still be a treasure years later.”
Wang Ying explained in detail how to store the ginseng and how long it could last.
The more the middle-aged woman listened, the more she felt that Wang Ying was dependable. Most people would just take the money and leave—who would bother to explain all this?
“You must be quite skilled in medicine as well?”
Wang Ying smiled modestly. “Just alright. I learned from my mother. Now I treat minor ailments for villagers back home.”
Out of caution, the woman asked, “Could I trouble you to take a look at the prescription and give some guidance on how to decoct the herbs? Honestly, this is our first time dealing with something this expensive… We’re a little nervous.”
Six hundred yuan was no small sum. If it were mishandled, even a wealthy family would feel the sting.
Wang Ying agreed immediately. That was her goal in saying so much earlier—she wanted to see the prescription.
She had been intrigued the moment Yao Shunjun mentioned it. Many elderly traditional Chinese medicine doctors each held unique knowledge, but much of it had been lost over time. Such a pity.
“No problem. I’ll stay for a bit and also see the patient.”
Prescriptions had to match the individual, so if she saw the prescription, she’d also need to meet the patient and take their pulse.
The woman thanked her profusely and went to notify her daughter. She then invited Wang Ying into the inner room. Wang Ying took a look at the prescription and grew increasingly impressed by its sophistication.
A pale-faced woman leaned against a pillow and let Wang Ying take her pulse.
After coughing a couple of times, she said, “My health has never been good. A couple of years ago, I had a rough time giving birth in summer. The hospital had an emergency that day—something major happened—and I just happened to go into labor that night. I was in such a rush that I nearly didn’t make it off the delivery bed…”
Wang Ying said, “Yes, your constitution is weak. But this prescription is good. If you follow it and rest properly, you’ll gradually recover in the coming years.”
She paused and asked, “You mentioned there was a major emergency at the hospital. What happened?”
Yao Huijuan coughed again and replied, “It was that year when the mudslide hit. Two cargo trucks were destroyed outside the city, and quite a few people were buried.”
Wang Ying quickly followed up, “Were you in room 305 at the time?”
Yao Huijuan replied, “How did you know? I was in 305, but after a while, all these blood-covered patients started coming in. My mom moved me to another room. Not long after that, I gave birth.”
Wang Ying’s heart pounded with excitement. “Comrade Yao, this may be a bit presumptuous, but I must ask—did any of your family members who were with you return to room 305 that night? Can I meet them?”
Yao Huijuan didn’t understand, but she replied sincerely, “My whole family was with me that night. As for whether someone went back to 305… I’ll have to ask to be sure.”
Wang Ying grasped her hand tightly. “Thank you.”
She never expected to find a breakthrough here, just when things seemed hopeless.
To help Yao Huijuan understand, Wang Ying shared some of her personal story.
“My mother passed away in room 305 that night. But I wasn’t with her—my uncle was. I later asked other patients in our village who were in the same room, and one of them remembered that a pregnant woman’s family had returned there in the middle of the night. I’ve been trying to find you ever since. I don’t want anything else—I just want to know if my mother left me any last words.”
Yao Huijuan listened to Wang Ying’s explanation and was even more willing to help: “Don’t worry, I understand.”
Ever since becoming a mother, Yao Huijuan could deeply empathize with a mother’s feelings. Take herself for example—after her husband passed away, she returned to her maternal home while pregnant. Her mother never looked down on her and took care of her attentively. Now, for the sake of her health, her mother was going out of her way to pull strings and search for medicine. Seeing her mother like that made Yao Huijuan feel guilty and upset that she couldn’t recover quickly and ease her mother’s worry.
Yao Huijuan said, “Come back tomorrow. I’ll definitely ask around for you. I think it must be one of my cousins who went back that night to help me fetch things.”
Wang Ying thanked Yao Huijuan and, as a token of gratitude, added a few drops of spiritual spring water to the medicine while helping with the prescription.
Then Wang Ying rode her bicycle back to town and told Xu Shuang everything that had happened.
Even Xu Shuang was amazed at such a fateful coincidence.
“I’ll go into the city with you tomorrow.”
Xu Shuang served Wang Ying a bowl of braised meat noodles. The meat had been stewed beforehand, sliced, and mixed with the broth.
Xu Shuang felt that this way of eating was a bit too simple, but Wang Ying was in a hurry.
“I still have to go to the health station this afternoon!”
She had already taken a full day off yesterday, so she had to show up today.
Xu Shuang could only watch as Wang Ying quickly devoured the noodles and sped off on her bicycle.
